Google on Thursday marked the beginning of the most awaited football event of the world, the FIFA World Cup, with a special doodle. As the month-long 2018 FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia, whereas 32 countries will compete for the coveted title, the search engine giant will showcase as many Google Doodles over the next few weeks. The world will hence get to see a new doodle every day for the next one month.
On Friday, Group A teams Egypt and Uruguay will take on each other in their first 2018 World Cup match at 5.30 pm (IST), which will be followed by two Group B classes. Morocco will be up against Iran at 8.30 pm and Portugal will face Spain at 11.30 pm. Today’s doodle, hence, features art from all these six countries — Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Portugal, Spain and Uruguay.
Explaining the doodle, Google says in a blog post: “This year’s Doodle series celebrates the rich cultures and talent of all 32 participating countries by featuring guest artists hailing from each nation.”
Google will release a new doodle every day until the final of the FIFA World Cup 2018 on July 15.
The theme on which the Google Doodle is designed is, “What does football mean in your country?”
For Shennawy, an artist from Egypt whose doodle features a bunch of children playing football on a busy shop street, “It is the soul of the people in Egypt!.”
Rashin Kheiriyeh, the artist from Iran, says, “Football is the biggest sport in Iran. Iranians love playing & watching football. The World Cup is a huge event that brings people together to support our national team.”
Explaining what football means in Portugal, Tiago Galo, the artist from Portugal, says, “Football is everywhere you go. In each corner, each coffee shop, everyone is either talking about the last match or the next one.”
The artist from Spain, Andrés Lozano, says, “Football in Spain is called the ‘king of sports’ so that gives you an idea of it’s importance. It’s a part of every Spaniard’s life, even If you’re not into sports.”